Nigeria dismantles meth lab after $360m bust

Nigerian authorities dismantled an alleged meth lab in southwestern Ogun state on Wednesday after a $360 million bust that officials said pointed to Mexican cartel involvement.

Officers from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency brought in workers to take apart cauldrons and filtration equipment at the crude lab, which was hidden in a forest between the villages of Abidagba and Iroto.

The dismantling followed court proceedings held at the site last week in an ongoing case involving three Mexican nationals. Legal proceedings have since returned to court in Lagos.

Authorities arrested 10 people in May, including seven Nigerians, and raided the lab as well as two residential properties in an upscale Lagos neighbourhood. They said the raids yielded $360 million worth of meth and chemicals used to make it.

Local authorities have said the case, described as involving the largest meth lab ever discovered in Nigeria, points to Mexican cartel involvement in the country.

James Taalba, the NDLEA’s deputy commander of narcotics, said the agency was ready to combat cartel activity. “We have people who are capable of curtailing such a situation,” he said.

Patricia Afolabi, the NDLEA’s director of forensics, said the court ordered the lab dismantled for environmental reasons, citing groundwater and air pollution from chemicals used to produce meth.

West Africa has become a transit point for drugs moving from South America to Europe, especially cocaine. Other drugs, including meth, can be produced locally. A 2019 report from the Institute for Security Studies said meth seizures and lab raids in Nigeria had been rising since around 2011 as Latin American specialists exported their expertise to the country.